


A Warning Of Monsters

by spacewitchqueen (vixy)



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - The Mummy Fusion, Crossover, F/F, Gen, Immortal family, M/M, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27311848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vixy/pseuds/spacewitchqueen
Summary: Prodigium. From the Latin "Monstrum vel prodigium", "a warning of monsters".During his exile, Booker stumbles upon a drawing of Nicky in an art gallery. An overheard conversation makes him suspicious so he decides to investigate. What he discovers might put he and his found family in danger. Andy, Joe, Nicky and Nile will need to decide whether he can be trusted.(Set one year after Booker was exiled, in this AU Quynh doesn’t find him)
Relationships: Andy | Andromache & Booker | Sebastien & Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf & Nicky | Nicolò & Quynh, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 9
Kudos: 151





	1. Unexpected Findings And Expected Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> Consider this a humble Halloween offering, inspired by Marwan's character in The Mummy (2017).  
> I will post the next part tomorrow <3

Solitude wasn’t treating Booker too bad, if he did say so himself. After the first few weeks of self-loathing and the lassitude that kept him all but immobile, he’d started recovering little by little. He cleaned his apartment, which was a good sign. He even felt like eating better and drinking —slightly— less. He missed his family, of course. Not an hour went by when he didn’t wonder whether Andy was fine, or whether Joe and Nicky were smiling at each other at that very moment, or if Nile was coping with her newfound immortality well. Booker felt truly sorry, he doubted whether a seemingly endless lifetime would be enough to forgive himself, or for them to truly forgive him. He would’ve wanted to apologize to all of them every day, but part of making amends was respecting their wishes to leave them be, so he did. 

Besides, it wasn’t as if he had to wonder all the time. Nile had been texting him every few days almost from the start. They didn’t have full blown conversations, it was mostly just a way to keep in touch, make sure everyone was doing alright. These simple messages kept Booker from worrying too much, they helped him focus on getting better. He did want to be worthy of his family when they let him back. 

Booker had chosen to go to France after he and the others parted ways, it wasn’t as if he had any better place to be, and it still felt somewhat familiar. An important part of looking after himself was to keep busy, so the natural next step for Booker was to do something he enjoyed. His mind went straight to art and forgeries, because well, he was good at that and if he didn’t really need to do it for the money, at least it was a way to pass the time. So he spent his days between museums and art supply shops. He was falling into a comfortable routine, where he could almost enter any museum with his eyes closed and find his way to any particular painting.

Months went by and he was beginning to feel like he’d seen all there was to see. He was wondering whether he should move to a different city when he came upon an interesting find in a small gallery. Nicky. Well, in a drawing. This was not unusual in itself. No one could possibly keep count of how many times Joe had sketched his husband throughout the years. What was peculiar about this drawing was the man badgering the gallery owner about acquiring it. Booker pretended to be very interested in the adjacent painting so he could eavesdrop.

“I’m sorry, sir. This belongs to a private collector and is not for sale, there are similar works I could offer…”

“I don’t want anything else, it must be this one, name your price.”

“I’m really sorry, sir.”

Booker tried not to laugh. The insistent man could have been Joe trying to recover the drawing just because it was Nicky. He considered returning later that night to steal it and give it back to them, when he remembered he wouldn’t see Joe and Nicky in a long time. Maybe he’d just take a picture and text “look what Joe left lying around” to Nile.

The sight of the would-be client talking on the phone in a commanding voice distracted Booker from any melancholy musings. He caught the words “we must get it for Prodigium” before the man stormed out of the gallery. Booker was torn between following the man or dismissing the whole thing and in that second of hesitation when he stepped out the door, the man was gone.

Almost as soon as he had left the gallery, Booker decided he needed to investigate. It could be nothing but he hadn’t liked the urgent manner of the man demanding to buy the drawing. He knew his instinct was right when he couldn’t find any relevant hits for Prodigium during his initial search. 

After some digging he found an obscure reference where Prodigium was described as an organization dedicated to the study of the supernatural and to tracking and, if necessary, destroying monsters. Booker snorted, monsters, really? He was about to forget about the whole thing when he stumbled upon a server he could hack. “Might as well,” he said to himself. He found many different files and a video feed. 

Booker could not believe his eyes. This ‘organization’ had countless documents that constituted irrefutable proof of the occurrence of supernatural phenomena, and the existence of so-called mythological creatures. He would have laughed but there was an eerie feeling to the whole thing, he could very well be on one of those files. 

As it was, Booker realized why the man had insisted so frantically to buy the drawing. There was a file on Nicky. The file was called “Unnatural Longevity/Immortality”, it didn’t seem to have Nicky’s name, rather it had dozens of sketches spanning centuries. “Fuck.” So, the Prodigium people might not know exactly who Nicky was but they were aware there was at least one immortal walking around. 

Panic was overwhelming Booker, he had a finger on his phone, ready to text Nile so she could alert them. “Alert them to what?” Booker tried to ignore the fear for a minute and think. Alert them to what. As far as he knew, the Prodigium people weren’t looking for Nicky, it was unfortunate they had so many of Joe’s drawings but that was it. Booker put his phone down but picked it up almost instantly, all but forgetting about the drawings. In the video feed, he saw a coffin. A very familiar iron coffin. They had Quỳnh.

Midnight found Booker pacing around in his apartment. He still hadn’t told Nile, he didn’t know what to do. Maybe the coffin was just a random coffin. Maybe it was empty. Or maybe they had really found Quỳnh. His gut told him they had. 

In the end, he could not bring himself to call Nile, she might be with the others and he didn’t want to get her in trouble in case they didn’t know they kept in contact. Booker went with the next available option. Copley.

The phone rang once, twice. 

A groggy Copley answered on the third ring. “Sebastien, do you know what time it is?”

“Fuck the time, Copley. This is serious.” Booker proceeded to describe in under thirty seconds what he had discovered.

“So you’re saying there is a drawing of a coffin?”

Booker cursed loudly and explained again. When he was done he could hear Copley getting up.

“Andy needs to hear this. We must warn them.”

“No, not ‘we’.  _ You _ must warn them, that’s what I’m calling you,” Booker said, trying to hide the hurt in his voice. “I’m banished, remember?”

Copley insisted. “They need to hear this from you. I’ll arrange the meeting.” He ended the call before Booker could protest.

Booker spent a sleepless night staring at his phone, both willing it to ring and dreading it would. What if Copley couldn’t convince Andy, Joe and Nicky to listen to him? What if they thought this was another trick, that he was setting them up again? A sharp buzz interrupted his pessimistic musings. A text from Copley with a time and a place. Booker stared at the screen for several minutes before fully processing what that meant. He was going to see his family again, much sooner than he had any right to. “Is everyone in France?” he texted back, there was no reply.

The next day, Booker had to actively talk himself out of downing a bottle before the meeting. He had just realized how very unprepared he was to see them, he feared the reproach in their eyes, their distrust, their very justified anger. Booker allowed himself one drink.

When he got to the spot designated for the meeting, only Copley was there, sitting at the kitchen table, typing very fast on his laptop. The place appeared to be an abandoned house, far from intruding eyes and ears. Copley signaled for him to take a seat across from him. 

“Is no one else here yet?” Booker looked around. 

“They’re here.” Copley turned the laptop to face him. It was a videoconference. The bubble of hope in Booker’s chest burst, he wouldn’t see his family after all.

“Andy, Nile, Joe, Nicky,” Booker greeted them, hoping they could not see his disappointment.

“Book.” Andy nodded. “Copley says you have something to tell us.”

Booker launched into the story at once, no point in dragging out the meeting. He’d tell them and they could decide what they wanted to do. Without him.

When he was done talking no one said anything for several minutes. Booker looked at Copley wondering if the old house had a proper internet connection. At last, Andy spoke.

“How do you know it’s her?”

“I don’t know, Andy. But how many other rusty iron coffins related to something paranormal can there be?”

“Plenty, for all we know.” It was Joe. “How do we know this is not another trap.”

There it was, just as Booker had feared. “Why would I…?”

Nicky interrupted him. “Why would you, indeed.”

“Guys, guys. This is a totally different situation. What is there to win by selling us all to this Prodigium thing? Nothing, no miracle cure, nothing.” Nile intervened. Booker smiled at her.

“I realize you have no reason to trust me, but I really believe they found her, and if that’s the case we have to help her.” Booker’s mind was made. “We’ve seen similar things in the past, these so-called investigative organizations that  follow and research paranormal phenomena and it almost never ends well for the ‘phenomena’. I’m going there and I can’t do it alone, but I will if I have to.”

Andy sighed. “You’re not going to do it alone.” There was something very much like bitterness in her voice, but it wasn’t directed at Booker. “If it really is  Quỳnh we have to help her. We owe it to her.” Andy shook her head. “I owe it to her, I cannot let her go from an eternity under the ocean to an eternity in a cage.” She was silent for a minute and then added, “it’s what I’d do for any of you.”

“Well, count me in.” Nile raised her hand.

Joe and Nicky looked at each other, a thousand words contained in a sharp nod. “Say the word, boss.”

Booker realized this probably meant they would go without him. “I’ll give you access to all the files, just tell me where to send them.”

The videoconference ended abruptly. “Or I suppose I could send everything to you,” he said to Copley.

“Why don’t you just show us?” 

Booker turned around and almost fell off the chair he was straddling. Andy was standing right beside him. And so were Nile, Joe and Nicky. Booker snorted. “You were here all this time?”

Nicky shrugged. “We had to make sure you weren’t coming to get us.”

“Fair enough.”

“Show us what you found, Book.”

Booker showed them the file on Nicky. Joe was flabbergasted but he tried to make light of it. “Those are not even my best drawings.” 

“Regardless, I think you should keep a closer eye on your sketchbooks.” Andy shook his head.

Booker opened the video file of the coffin and Andy went very pale. “It’s her. It’s Quỳnh. I would know that damn thing anywhere.” She was on her way to the door. “Come on, let’s go. She’s not staying there a minute longer.”

“Boss,” Booker began but Andy was no longer listening, she was on her way to the door, ready to leave. “Andy, we can’t just go right now.”

“Why not? What was the point of this meeting then?”

“I had to tell you, which I have done. But we can’t just go because, for one, we don’t know where this organization is, we don’t know where they have her, and.” Booker looked at the others for support. 

“And?” Andy pressed.

“We need a plan,” Joe said. “We can’t just waltz in there and let one or all of us be captured.”

Andy looked from the door to the team. “Fine, a plan. But if we don’t have one by tomorrow, I’m going there on my own.”


	2. Beware The Real Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team agrees on a plan to break into Prodigium to investigate. But sometimes, improvisation is the best way to get results.

The next 24 hours were hectic. No one doubted that Andy wouldn’t wait another day before setting out on her own so they had to hurry. 

Copley had to make use of several of his contacts but he was able to find a solid lead: apparently, Prodigium’s headquarters were located underneath the Natural History Museum of London. They couldn’t be sure the coffin would be there but at least it was a good place to start looking. Booker and Copley got ahold of the museum’s blueprints and with a virtual tour of the museum galleries —courtesy of Nile— they located the possible points of access. That was as much as they could do remotely, so with that information the team went to London to conduct an on-site inspection.

Since they needed to have a surveillance point nearby, they took a couple of rooms at a hotel across from the Wildlife Garden. Copley had offered his house of course, but everyone felt it was best to be close to the museum. They took turns wandering through the galleries, looking for anything that might be helpful.

Two days later, Nile was positive she had found something. She couldn’t wait to share the information with everyone, though she still felt somewhat odd when they paid attention to her. She was used to being dismissed or downright ignored by superiors so the fact that these immortal warriors actually listened to her made her feel like they were really a family.

“These security guards. These are not regular museum guards,” she explained to the team that night, pointing to two people in the video she’d taken while posing as a tourist that afternoon. “See? The uniform almost looks like tactical gear.”

“This is very good, Nile.” Andy beamed at her. “Did you see where they went?”

Nile shrugged. “I tried to follow them, but they disappeared around a corner. There’s a door with a Restricted Access sign on it, looks like it needs a keycard, it might be the entrance we’re looking for.”

“Book.” Andy looked at him.

Booker nodded. “I can probably recreate one, but I will need to see it.”

“Why bother with the card, couldn’t we just break in tonight?” Joe suggested.

“I don’t think they work regular museum hours,” Nicky said, his voice low. “And we don’t know how they would react to a break-in.”

“So what do we do now?” Joe raised an eyebrow.

“Someone steals a card so I can duplicate it, and one or two of us go inside to investigate, without raising alarm.” Booker said, confidently but looking at Andy for confirmation nonetheless. “If the coffin is indeed here, we can then plan the next step. If it turns out it’s somewhere else, we can at least look around.”

“Why not just use the stolen card?” Nicky asked.

“Because if the card is reported as stolen and then someone uses it to go in the next day there might be some questions,” Copley explained. 

Joe nodded. “Fine. I can steal the card and then Nicky and I will go in.”

Booker shook his head. “Don’t forget they have a literal file on Nicky. Who knows what would happen if they see one of their subjects of study casually walking in? I think it’s best if Nicky stays away from these people.”

“He’s right, Joe, we can’t risk it,” Andy said, looking from Booker to him.

Joe nodded. He looked guiltily at Nicky. Nicky took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Of course, boss.”

“Right, let’s go get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow.”

As it turned out, getting the card was not too difficult. Joe was able to take the badge from one of the guards, Nile ran to the hotel to give the card to Booker, and Booker and Copley began to work on decoding it while Andy and Nicky went over the video again looking for any other clue.

“Who’s going in?” Booker asked after a couple of hours.

“I’m going,” Andy stated. Everyone turned to look at her and almost everyone started talking at the same time.

“Are you sure?”

“Boss…”

“We don’t even know what’s in there.”

“What if there are hostiles…”

“Andy, no.”

“...and you get hurt…”

Eventually, the conversation turned unintelligible. After debating some more, they all agreed that Joe and Nile would go undercover. 

“You go in, look for a computer, plug this in,” Booker explained, holding a flash drive. “And you get out. We don’t know if there are any other security measures, so if anyone notices the two of you nosing around just leave.” 

Joe and Nile looked at each other and nodded. They were ready. 

“Oh, Joe? One more thing,” Booker said. He wanted to break the tension with Joe, he didn’t know how he would take it but well, he had nothing to lose so he took his chance. “We might need to alter your appearance a little.”

“What? Why?”

“That security guy might remember you. You did get too close when you took his card.”

“What about Nile? She’s been there the past few days too.” Joe looked at her.

“Yeah, but I haven’t been knocking into anyone.” Nile huffed.

Joe returned his gaze to Booker. “What are you suggesting?”

Booker smiled. “Something more, ah, military-like.” He took Joe’s hand and dragged him to the other room. Once there, he handed Joe an electric razor and pointed at his hair.

Joe’s face fell but he took the razor. A few minutes later his curls were on the floor. “Haven’t you done enough damage, Sebastien?” 

“I’m sure Nicky won’t mind it.” Booker was trying not to laugh.

Joe ran a hand through his freshly cut hair. “I will ask for another year to be added to your punishment for this.” 

The smile faded from Booker’s lips. “No less than I deserve. Joe, I. I’m sorry. I know ‘sorry’ doesn’t fix what I did. To all of you. These past couple of days, all of us, it’s been...”

“I know.” Joe interrupted him. “I miss you too, brother. I think we all do. But.”

Silence stretched between them. Booker nodded. “Come on, let’s see if Copley got the uniforms. And, Joe?”

“Yes?”

“Be careful tomorrow.”

Nile and Joe were ready to go at the break of dawn. However, since they really hadn’t managed to notice any sort of pattern for the security guard’s shifts, the team decided it was best to try the door closer to the time when they’d seen the guards around the museum. 

A little before noon, Nile and Joe spotted a guard going out the door. They discarded the long coats they’d worn to disguise the uniform as discreetly as they could and headed for the door. Joe slammed the card against the electronic panel which earned him a reproachful look from Nile. Nothing happened. Nile took the card from Joe and waved it in front of the lock. There was a click and the door was unlocked. They stepped inside.

The place was dimly lit. There was a long corridor with many doors along it, it would be impossible to just start going one by one. Someone would definitely notice that. They tried a couple of doors for good measure. One was locked and their card didn’t open it. The other appeared to lead to a sort of library where every book, every document, every item behind a glass case was related to the supernatural. 

There were parchments in languages Joe didn’t recognize, clay tablets that described magic rituals, grimoires, several specimens floating in jars and even a skull that appeared to be normal, except for the pointy fangs.

“A vampire?” Nile asked in a whisper. “Is all of this… real?”

“Well…” Joe began but something caught his eye. Staring at him from across the room was a life-size painting of Nicky.

Nile followed his line of sight. “How could you lose that one?”

“That’s not mine. But we did have a few artist friends back in the XV century.” 

“Just a few?”

Joe sighed. “Come on, let’s find a computer for Booker.”

They followed the corridor without trying any other doors. They went down a staircase that led into a laboratory with a few workstations. Joe signaled Nile to go ahead and plug the flash drive while he kept watch outside the lab.

Joe was making a mental map of what they’d seen so far when someone touched his shoulder.

“You the new guy?” The man asked Joe.

“Huh?”

“Are you the new Chief of Security?”

“Sure.” 

“Malik, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, Malik, welcome to Prodigium. The Doctor is holding a briefing in an hour. Has anyone showed you around yet?”

“No.”

“Give me a minute.” The man walked away just as Nile was coming out of the lab.

“It’s done, let’s go," Nile whispered.

“Go. I’ll stay.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Apparently, I work here. It might be easier to look for.” Joe hesitated. “The coffin, if I’m here.”

“But…”

“If I don’t find anything by tonight, I’ll leave. If I find something, I’ll send a sign.” Joe patted the two-way radio clipped to his belt. It was turned off at the moment to avoid detection, in case there were frequency scanners. “If you don’t hear from me by midnight, then, come get me.”

Nile bit her lip but there wasn’t any time to argue. “Fine.”

A second after Nile had climbed the stairs, the man was back. “Sorry about that, chief. One of the guys misplaced his badge yesterday, had to report it.”

“How unfortunate, I was under the impression that sort of thing didn’t happen at this level,” Joe said, contempt in his voice.

“It doesn’t. There will be disciplinary actions…”

“Yes, yes, very well. Please show me the premises,” Joe interrupted, sliding into his character. The man nodded, clearly used to following orders.

The tour proved to be useful. There were many laboratories, offices and file rooms like the one he and Nile had seen. There were also two other access points. Joe took special note of these, should he need to leave in a hurry. 

“And these are containment areas. Most of them are empty, except for that one.” The man jerked his head at a vault door. 

Joe stopped just outside it. “What’s in there?” His voice betrayed his emotion.

The guard interpreted it as curiosity. “One of the most interesting things we have right now. Living proof, you might call it. But I think I’ll leave it to the Doctor to explain.”

“Things,” Joe hissed, but the guard didn’t hear it. That briefing could not come soon enough.

Back at the hotel, Nile had told everyone what had happened. Booker rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable.”

“You would have done the same thing, Booker,” Nicky said. “Joe knows what he’s doing, I trust him.” He sounded calm, and yet, his eyes instinctively moved to the table where they had their guns. 

“He said midnight, right?” Andy turned to Nile.

“Midnight,” Nile confirmed.

“Then we wait.”

In the meantime, Joe was doing his best to look like he belonged. Nodding sharply at the people that the security guard introduced him to, and not saying much. Finally, it was time for the meeting. He was led to a spacious office that also had a very high-tech security door, his card would be useless there, it seemed like it required some sort of biometric reading, likely a hand print. Joe was glad he didn’t have to break into this room. 

There were a dozen security guards, a few people in lab coats, and an older man in a suit. Joe assumed this was the Doctor. 

“Thank you for coming, I want to go over the details for the special security upgrade. For those of you who are unaware of our latest, and may I say most important discovery, these are the facts. Last year we found several manuscripts of witch trials. Nothing out of the ordinary for the most part, considering the grim topic, plenty of innocent women burned at the stake for witchcraft. However, there was one particular account that was most interesting. Two real witches. Well, the document doesn’t really call them that but it does say that these two women were captured and killed. Over and over. In the end, they decided to lock one of them in an iron coffin and throw the coffin in the ocean.” 

The Doctor looked around his office, everyone’s attention on him. Joe had to contain himself not to walk over to him and shake him. “The document ends there, it just gives a few administrative details, it doesn’t even say what happened to the other woman. But. Among the administrative details, there’s the name of the ship that took the coffin away and with some digging we came into possession of the Captain’s log and we hit the jackpot, if you’ll pardon the expression. The log pinpointed the exact location where they dropped the coffin.”

The Doctor paused again and walked to his desk. Joe half expected him to pull out the log but instead, he took a syringe and injected himself with it. This didn’t seem to be out of the ordinary, no one batted an eye. A second later the Doctor resumed his story. “Naturally, we went looking for the coffin. The first search mission ended in failure, of course, we could hardly expect to find the proverbial needle in the haystack but we kept trying. After all, we had technology on our side with ocean current analysis and every kind of sonar available, and just last month we were successful.”

A polite round of applause broke out.

“We didn’t know what we would find. To be honest, we expected a skeleton, or nothing at all. Five hundred years underwater is a long time. So of course we were shocked when we realized what we had pulled out of the water.” The Doctor produced a remote from his jacket pocket and turned on a screen above his desk. Joe couldn’t help taking a step forward. There, restrained by chains and looking just like the last time he’d laid eyes on her, was Quỳnh.

“Has the specimen been carbon-dated?” A woman in a lab coat asked.

“Has she said anything?” Another of the lab coat people inquired, taking notes.

“Why is she locked up?” Joe asked. None of the other security guards had spoken.

The Doctor looked at him. “Security, of course. Hers and ours. We have not been able to communicate with her so while we figure out the course of the investigation, it was decided she should remain in a secure room.”

“Investigation?” Someone else asked before Joe could add anything else.

“Indeed. If she is proof of immortality, she might know where to find others. Like the man in all those paintings. I was informed that last week one of our agents found yet another sketch in some lost gallery in France but he was unable to acquire it. No matter, we have plenty already. What we need now is something more tangible, like that creature’s testimony.” The Doctor pointed at the screen.

“And how do we know she’s immortal?” The lab coat woman asked.

“Well, other than the fact that she spent centuries at the bottom of the ocean there’s the fact that we have already killed her. And yet there she is.”

Joe’s blood froze in his veins. “You did what?”

“When we opened the coffin she attacked one of the scientists, we tried to subdue her but she was too strong. A guard had to shoot her. A minute later she opened her eyes, she would have attacked us again but we managed to subdue her. And that brings me to you, gentlemen.” He nodded at the security guards. “We have established a new security protocol, you will be in charge of that vault. Any volunteers for the first round?”

No one moved. Joe raised his hand.

Twenty minutes later, he was led to the vault again. There wasn’t any visible keypad or lock. Joe tried his badge but he didn’t really expect it to work. He was wondering how he was going to get inside when another lab coat person joined him outside. 

“Meds.” She smiled weakly and showed him an IV bag. She pressed her index finger to a tiny panel beside the door. She went in without a second glance at Joe. He took his chance and went in before the heavy door closed.

“Are you supposed to be in here?” The woman asked.

“New security protocol.” 

At that moment Quỳnh raised her head. Joe could see the pain in her eyes, but there was something else. A spark of recognition. Her lips were moving but no sound came out. And then, all of a sudden, a scream pierced the air. “Yusuf!”

“Quỳnh!” His voice broke. Joe was looking everywhere for a way to remove the chains, he had almost forgotten he wasn’t there alone. 

“What is this? Who are you?” The woman in the lab coat was yelling at him.

Joe took her arm, trying to calm her down. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and a numbness spreading through him. She had stabbed him with a hypodermic needle, and by the way his eyes were losing focus, he’d been sedated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to break this chapter in two, so there will be another one. I will do my best to post it this weekend.  
> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> I'm spacewitchqueen on tumblr if you want to say hi


	3. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy, Booker, Nile and Nicky break into Prodigium to rescue Joe and Quỳnh. They only hope they can all come out.

A few minutes later, Joe was regaining consciousness. But that had been enough time for the woman in the lab coat to fetch a real security guard to cuff him. Joe shook his head and tried to sit up; he wished he had his hands free to cover his ears. Quỳnh was screaming herself hoarse.  _ Good, at least we’re in the same room _ , he thought.

Joe dragged himself closer to Quỳnh. “Quỳnh, listen to me. The others are near, they will come get us.”

Quỳnh stopped screaming, she stared at him. “Nicolò?” She muttered. “And… Andromache?”

Joe smiled. “Yes, they’re here. And Sebastien and Nile, too. You’ve— you’ve dreamed about them.” 

She nodded but didn’t say anything else, she looked away.

“They’re here. They’ll rescue us,” Joe repeated, to reassure her as much as himself. Quỳnh’s eyes met his, her expression went from hope to defeat in a second. She could’ve said “I have heard that before” out loud.

Joe pushed himself off the floor and went to the vault door, there was no way he’d be able to open it with his hands tied behind his back. He strained against the cuffs but it was no use. The small CCTV monitor by the door showed him that they’d soon have company.

“It’s taking too long,” Nicky mumbled. He was leaning against a window, his eyes scanning the street below. “He should be back by now.”

“Do you think something went wrong?” Copley asked.

Nicky didn’t move away from the window. “I think it’s time to prepare ourselves.”

“There isn’t any suitable place for you to position yourself, Nicky,” Booker said. “It’s all underground so your sniper rifle is out. And we agreed you wouldn’t go there.”

At this, Nicky did turn around to face him. “And I suppose you think I can stay here while Joe is in danger.”

“Let us go first, me and Nile.” 

Nile stood up at once, she was clutching her radio expecting to hear Joe check in and confirm he was fine.

“What, am I dead already?” Andy got up from the couch she’d been sitting on, quietly watching the minutes tick by. 

“Boss…”

“I’m going, Book. There’s nothing you can say that will stop me.” Andy put her hands on Booker’s shoulders. “My very long life has been worth it because of all of you. Quỳnh, Joe, Nicky, Nile, and you. Yes, you too, Book. If it’s my time.” She turned to Nicky. “Then let it come in service of my family. So. Gear up, everyone, we won’t be easy prey.”

“Are we going to torch the place?” Copley asked, looking at the assortment of weapons on the table.

“We’ll play it by ear.” Andy gave him a small smile.

“You’ll set off all the metal detectors in this country.” Copley’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. 

Nicky looked at him, clipping two more guns to his jacket. “Any ideas?”

“Break into the museum after closing time through a window instead of going through the main entrance. I can deactivate the alarms from here. I’ll keep an eye out for you.” Copley shrugged. “In case you need backup.”

Nicky and Booker snorted. Their eyes met and they nodded, whatever else happened tomorrow, tonight they were a team again.

Joe took a step back as the vault door swung open. The Doctor walked into the room flanked by two guards. 

“I was given to understand we have another, ah, guest?” 

“Guest? Well, I can’t say much for your hospitality.” Joe glared at him, he wrestled against the cuffs again. 

“Take those off him.” The Doctor addressed the guards, both of them hesitated to move. “I believe we can have a civilized conversation, can we not?” They removed Joe’s handcuffs. “Leave us.” The men stepped outside of the room as fast as they could.

“What about Quỳnh?” 

“Ah, well. That’s something else. We had to restrain her like that because  she wasn’t speaking and she was attacking anyone who approached her.” He looked at her and  Quỳnh growled. “Until she recognized you.”

“You were harming her, what did you expect?” Joe was indignant, he walked towards  Quỳnh and positioned himself between her and the Doctor .

“We couldn’t exactly set her free. Where would she go?”

“Wherever she damn well wanted to go, that is not for you to decide. Let us go. Now.”

“But it is. It is for us to decide. You see, we are the last stand against monsters.”

“Are you? Or are you the monsters yourselves?”

A strange smile crossed the Doctor’s face and he rubbed his right forearm where Joe had seen him use the syringe. “Some people would say that there are hardly any real monsters left.”

“I disagree.”

The Doctor pretended not to hear Joe. “We do still find one from time to time, and we take whatever steps we deem necessary to protect mankind from them. But we mostly just document now.”

“This, what you’re doing to her, is not documenting. And mankind doesn’t need protection from her. From us. We’re not a threat.” Joe was tempted to add that they were the protectors, but he didn’t feel like going into details with this man. “We just want to live in peace, same as you.”

“Until we could establish communication, we didn’t have a lot of choice. But now that you’re here.” 

“Let us go,” Joe repeated.

“Now that you’re here, you can tell me. Everything.”

“Everything?”

“Everything you’ve seen, everything you know. Such an account would be invaluable.” 

“It’s just a life.”

“An extraordinarily long life. Are you 500 years old too?” The Doctor studied Joe. “You must be at least that or she wouldn’t know you.”

Joe wondered if it would be best to lie or tell the truth. He decided on neither. “So you would keep us in a cage? Let us go. Now.” 

“Are there more of you?” 

A deafening sound shook the room. Joe grinned. “I think you’re about to find out.”

“Let’s blow up this door.” Andy stood aside. They’d had no trouble getting into the museum and Nile had guided them to the Restricted entry to the underground level.

“So no element of surprise then?” Nile raised an eyebrow.

Andy shrugged. “There’s no way all of us would go unnoticed, so there’s no point in trying to go in quietly, we might as well make a lot of noise, with any luck they will be too confused to realize what’s going on.”

“What if I go first, just me.” Booker tried again, already knowing what Andy’s answer would be.

It was Nicky who spoke. “We move together, we find them, and we get out together.”

“Cover Andy,” Booker muttered. “And don’t get caught.”

The Doctor was not looking at Joe anymore. His attention was fixed on the CCTV monitor and the skirmish taking place outside the vault. 

“If you value your life you best unchain  Quỳnh. Believe me, you do not want to see that woman angry.” Joe chuckled, watching Nicky on the screen kicking the legs out from under a security guard. “You don’t want to see any of them angry.”

The Doctor tossed Joe a set of keys without taking his eyes from the monitor. Joe was thinking how to convince him to open the door while he undid Quỳnh’s restraints. He was opening the last lock when he heard the vault creaking open. Joe turned around just as Andy and Nicky stepped inside, Booker and Nile guarding the door, making sure they didn’t get locked in.

“There’s no need for weapons, I am unarmed.” The Doctor raised his hands. “And as far as I can see you’ve neutralized my security, if I wanted to fight you I would have kept the door closed. Welcome to Prodigium.” He addressed Andy but almost immediately focused on Nicky. “It’s you…”

Andy interrupted him. “We can’t stay long, we’ve only come to get our family.” She walked past him to where Joe was holding Quỳnh.

“Family.”

“You found Quỳnh. For that alone I am sparing your life,” Andy said. “You already know about us anyway. But let me warn you, let us go and do not go looking for us because I cannot tell what you will find.”

Andy led Quỳnh out the door walking close behind her. Joe and Nicky stared The Doctor down. Before they exited the vault, they heard two gunshots and they ran outside.

“Andy!” Booker yelled after shooting the man who had hit Andy.

“I’m fine, it just grazed me.” Andy gritted her teeth.

Quỳnh looked from Andy’s wound to Joe, uncomprehending. Joe shook his head as if to say ‘not now’.

“We need to get out of here now, we don’t know how much longer it will take for more of these guys to show up.”

The Doctor came out of the vault at that moment. He stared at Andy’s open wound and took a step closer to her. Booker, Joe, Nicky and Nile raised their guns to signal that he should not get any closer. The Doctor took the hint. “You’re not so special then. I’ve met others. Other immortals, with greater power.”

“So have I,” Andy hissed.

The Doctor sneered and turned around almost at a run.

“Should we go after him?” Nicky asked. “I could still shoot him from here.”

Andy shook her head. “No, let him go. He knows he can’t stay here, this place is compromised. I doubt he’ll be able to do much for a while. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him, but who knows, he might actually listen to my warning.”

No sooner had they reached the relative safety of the hotel that Joe and Nicky held each other for several minutes. No one seemed to be in the mood for words.

Quỳnh still hadn’t said anything. She looked from Joe and Nicky to Booker, Nile, and Andy.

“Quỳnh.” Andy held out her hand to her.

“If I touch you I will wake up,” Quỳnh whispered. “It always happens.”

“I’m here, Quỳnh, we’re really here.” Andy grabbed her shoulders softly. “I’m sorry it took this long. Nothing will ever harm you again.”

“I thought I’d never hear your voice,” Quỳnh said, her voice still barely audible. “I thought… you’d forgotten me.”

“How could I ever forget you?” Andy pulled Quỳnh closer, letting the jacket she had wrapped around her arm as an improvised bandage fall to the floor.

“Boss, your wound…” Joe could have screamed. “It healed!” 

There was some commotion the next day because the museum was closed. Apparently there had been some sort of electrical malfunction during the night which caused an explosion in the basement. Nothing the public should worry about, of course. 

The team asked Copley to oversee the investigation closely. They didn’t have to ask,  he wanted to take a look at Prodigium’s files himself. He also wanted to make sure that any information on  Quỳnh and Nicky was destroyed so they could rest easy. Copley used his contacts again to ensure he could take part in the search. As Andy predicted, the facility was deserted by dawn. Many of the hard drives that Copley found had been wiped but there was still a lot to see in the libraries and file rooms.  He wondered if it would be too much to ask to let him take charge of what was left of Prodigium, something good might come out of all that knowledge yet. Copley found what had been the Doctor’s office. “Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., LL. D., F.R.S.” the plaque in the door read.

The team was getting ready to leave. Everyone was in a strange mood. There was relief at having Quỳnh and Joe back, of course. But they all had a lot on their minds. 

Andy was still processing the recovery of her immortality, on top of having her beloved back after five centuries. She was feeling more overwhelmed than she’d felt in decades, centuries even. 

Nile was very much grateful that the painful nightmares of Quỳnh drowning over and over would stop now, but she was also somewhat shocked by the fact that in the short time she’d been with the team she had already rescued them from creepy laboratories twice. She wondered if she’d ever get used to the things they took for granted. Maybe in a few centuries.

Joe tried to appear nonchalant about being captured but he was shaken. He knew perfectly well what could have happened. Eternity in a cage. Never seeing Nicky again. Or dooming all the team to a similar fate. Realizing his hair would take time to grow didn’t help matters, he winced every time he touched his head. He nuzzled the back of Nicky’s neck and told him ‘I love you’ repeatedly until he fell asleep.

Nicky couldn’t forget how the Doctor had looked at him, almost like something to be collected. He was glad all of them had made it out but he also wondered how many more times they’d have to go through a similar experience. Witch hunts, idle curiosity, people both fearing and wanting what they had. He hoped never again. He cuddled closer to Joe, his love, his man, swearing they’d never be parted.

Quỳnh had stayed up all night, curled up with Andy. After centuries in that coffin and then being chained in the vault room, she couldn’t quite believe she was free to move so she didn’t move much. She felt anger bubbling up inside her, a rage that threatened to drag her to a dark place. She wasn’t mad at Andy, Joe or Nicky. She was just mad she’d missed so much time with them. With her. She couldn’t believe Andy had lost her immortality for a while. During all those terrible years at the bottom of the ocean, she had wished for hers to end so that her suffering would stop. Now, though, staring into Andy’s eyes, listening to her talking in a language only both of them understood, she was grateful for the years ahead of them. 

Booker was quietly waiting for the moment when they all left again, not looking forward to being alone with his thoughts. After the past few days he’d grown accustomed to their presence and now going back to exile felt like much more than he could bear. He wondered if it was worth it to stay until they left. On one hand, he wanted to stay for as long as they let him. On the other hand, he didn’t want to see them go away again. He’d heard all of them talking at some point during the night, no one had thought to invite him, so he guessed their posture was pretty clear.

All in all, as they sat down for breakfast the next morning, no one was saying much. Nile was making an effort, commenting on how she hoped that next time they visited a museum they would be there just for the art.

“So where are we going next?” Quỳnh asked. Nicky smiled at her. 

Andy looked at Booker. “We have decided to remain together, at least for a while. Book…”

“I know. I understand you need a safe place to heal, without me. I’ll leave now.” Booker pushed his chair back. 

“Wait.” Joe put his hand on top of Booker’s. “Did you not hear the boss? She said ‘together’.”

“For the next fifty years,” Andy spoke again.

Booker raised his eyes, fifty years was a lot better than a hundred. 

Andy went on, her face impassive. “You are expected to communicate with at least one of us when we are not together, when we go our separate ways. For now, you’re coming with us. We all need to work through our issues, but nothing will be gained by isolating you. Talk to us, let us heal but let us help you heal as well. We are a family.”

“I. I don’t know. Is everyone ok with this?” Booker looked around the table. 

Andy blinked in agreement. Quỳnh nodded openly and Nile just smiled. Nicky gave a sharp nod. Joe looked down at his feet and finally said, “Yes. After all, you still need to pay for what you did to my hair, so you have to be close by. Be warned, my vengeance will be swift and thorough.”

There was a moment of silence and then the tension faded visibly giving way to laughter. Andy’s phone buzzing a minute later interrupted their mirth. It was Copley. Andy put him on speaker.

Digging through Prodigium’s ongoing investigations, Copley had found evidence of dangerous creatures, evil entities that might pose a risk to mankind. “Your services might be required,” he said. “Are you all leaving now?”

“You know how to reach us,” Andy replied, a smile on her face. “Do call us if the world needs saving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, I used the "his love, his man" quote! Thank you, Mr. Marinelli  
> And happy ending because I'm just a big ball of fluff 
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and comments, they make my day. And thank you for reading! I hope you liked this (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*。

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos, comments, bookmarks are the best treats <3


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